title: Time and time-frequency analysis of near-infrared signals for the assessment of ozone autohemotherapy long-term effects in multiple sclerosis.
abstract: Ozone autohemotherapy is an emerging therapeutic technique that is gaining increasing importance in treating neurological disorders. A validated and standard methodology to assess the effect of such therapy on brain metabolism and circulation is however still lacking. We used a near-infrared spectroscopy system (NIRS) to monitor the cerebral oxygenation of 9 subjects: 4 remitting-relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers and 5 controls. Subjects were tested before, during, and after ozone autohemotherapy. We monitored the concentration changes in the level of oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin, and in the level of the Cytochrome-c-oxidase (CYT-c). From the time and time-frequency analysis of the NIRS signals we extracted 128 variables, which were used to characterize the metabolic brain pattern during the therapy. We showed that by using only 7 NIRS variables out of 128 it is possible to characterize the metabolic brain pattern of the two groups of subjects. The MS subjects showed a marked increase of the CYT-c activity and concentration about 40 minutes after the end of the autohemotherapy, possibly revealing a reduction of the chronic oxidative stress level typical of MS sufferers. From a technical point of view, this preliminary study showed that NIRS could be useful to show the effects of ozone autohemotherapy at cerebral level, in a long term monitoring. The clinical result of this study is the quantitative measurement of the CYT-c level changes in MS induced by ozone autohemotherapy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lintas
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Molinari
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Simonetti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franzini
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liboni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D010126:Ozone; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D010126:Ozone; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV; D010100:Oxygen